Short skirts make demands on cloth (8)
I believe the answer is:
ministry
'cloth' is the definition.
(eg a man of the cloth is part of a church ministry)
'short skirts make demands on' is the wordplay.
'short skirts' becomes 'minis' (I have seen 'short skirts' mean 'minis' so perhaps 'skirts' could also mean 'minis'; 'short' asks for a short form).
'make demands on' becomes 'try' (as in trying someone's patience).
'minis'+'try'='MINISTRY'
(Other definitions for ministry that I've seen before include "a cleric has entered" , "Priesthood" , "members of the clergy" , "service" , "cloth?" .)